When Professor of Dracophilology Simon Stillfield is asked to go to far away Russia to help set up a dragon post like that in the British Isles, his first impulse is to refuse. To his knowledge, there are few dragons in Russia besides the feral Ice Dragons of Siberia. But when a disappointment in love makes him long for a change of scene, Simon, his dragon friend Lakota and familiar Janus embark on a strange adventure in a distant, largely unknown land. The Russians seem curiously reluctant to begin work on the project, and puzzles abound on all sides. Who is the mysterious young woman in the home of his hosts? Why are the Secret Police spying on him? When a young boy Simon has befriended is kidnapped by an Ice Dragon, Simon must attempt a rescue, and face Russian Witches, Rusalka, and an evil Necro-mancer who seems bent on killing him for an unknown reason. It will take all of Simon's resources, magical and otherwise, to confront danger, death, and love.